Chafee’s office announced at 11:31 a.m. on Thursday that the governor would host a lighting of the tree at noon. Typically, several days’ notice is given for such events.

Chafee said before flipping the switch at the sparsely attended ceremony that he gave short notice this year because last year the event turned into a “disrespectful gathering.”

Protesters who opposed Chafee’s use of the term “holiday tree,” rather than “Christmas tree,” last year crashed the ceremony and interrupted a children’s chorus with their own rendition of “O Christmas Tree.”